“I saw the stunt you pulled in the gallery. Don’t do it again.”
“Or what? You’ll kill me too. Or maybe you’ll give me some new implant that won’t work right,” Riley snarled in response to the threat. “Honestly, I don’t really care,” she challenged the alien woman, stepping forward threateningly.
Hoda attempted to stare her down, but Riley refused to divert her eyes or blink. These assholes thought they held all the cards, and they did, but Riley had dealt with a few bullies in life. The moment you let them know you didn’t give a shit, it quickly took the wind out of their sails. This was the same, but on a more dire scale.
“Someone take this body to the morgue. Now I have to report to the Overseer,” Hoda croaked.
“No need. I’m here.”
Riley turned to see Cuttles. The blue marks on the tentacled man’s head were flashing wildly. He was pissed.
“What would you like me to tell the Jurou Biljana?” Hoda asked.
“’We will forfeit our commission on the female, though I doubt that will appease them,” Cuttles huffed.
The bastards were entirely motivated by money. They could care less that Exo was dead, or they’d just executed one of their own. If Riley wanted leverage against them, she had to use their greed to get it.
“Can you heal my lip and Exo’s broken bones?” Riley asked.
“Yes, but your companion is dead. It is pointless,” Cuttles replied, the valves on either side of his head flaring as he spoke.
“I understand that. I have a bargain for you. I want my necklace. In exchange, I will behave, and tell the Jurou Biljana that Exo collapsed from a heart attack. I’ll tell them that he couldn’t handle the strain. It will be more believable coming from me.”
“I don’t bargain with chattel. Even if I did, the Jurou Biljana will still want compensation, since his death happened under our supervision,” Cuttles replied.
Riley did her best not to yell in frustration. She had to convince him to give her back the necklace. Exo said he’d encrypted the star map and the file couldn’t be copied, but as long as someone else had the thumb drive, the colony was at risk.
“Fine, I will continue to fight with everyone. I will injure myself and do everything in my power to make sure you lose money,” Riley snarled. “Or you can give me my necklace, and I will willingly get on that stage, and do my best to get you top dollar. Sometimes you have to give a little to get a lot.” She smiled sweetly.
“How do you propose to do that?”
Riley had only intended to imply that she wouldn’t fight and cause trouble, but clearly Cuttles expected more. An idea occurred to Riley as she thought about how the aliens responded to her while she was on stage.
I can’t believe I’m about to suggest this.
“I can dance to my exotic music.”
She had a feeling the giant squid had already downloaded the files from her thumb drive. Riley almost laughed at the image of some strange alien thrashing to Rammstein’s Du Hast.
Cuttles tilted his head, considering her proposal.
“You could even auction off the opportunity to eat with me face to face, before the auction. A personal meet and greet with the foreign girl.”
That last idea was driven by her stomach. Riley couldn’t stand the thought of what they might be serving the prisoners when they took her back to her cell. Riley held her breath, while trying not to appear desperate. This was the best she could come up with on the fly.
Please agree. It was taking the Overseer forever to make up his mind.
“That is an intriguing idea. It would be pure profit,” Cuttles said thoughtfully. “You can’t lose your temper like you did with my guard. No striking my guests.” He eyed her sternly.
“The dancing will work off my aggression. As long as they don’t get grabby, I’ll behave. But I don’t eat anything that’s living, was humanoid, butchered in front of me, or uncooked,” Riley added.
“You are picky female. You are doing all this for a necklace? The jewels attached to the data chip are worth nothing, just a bit of cut glass.” His eyes narrowed on her.
Think Riley.
“It has sentimental value. It was a gift from my brother,” she lied. “But I also have vested interest in seeing that I sell for an obscene price. The more someone pays for me, the less likely they are to hurt me. It’s a win win situation.”
Riley couldn’t fathom how she was going to get out of this place. She was one person among several thousand, who were all working against her. Her best insurance, was a buyer who spent a small fortune. Prison back home wasn’t looking so bad now.